A family came to France because of the poverty of their native Greece.The father,Darius ,feels indebted to France and it is only natural that his sons must leave for Algeria to fight for their new homeland.One of them comes from the war on "harvest furlough" (that's what the title of the movie means) to help his family on the farm.But his brother,who has been studying in Paris for some years and who has met there an activist who has become his lover (and pregnant by him) rebels against the establishment and takes to the bush.
—dbdumonteil